Embattled Cubs bullpen fritters one away

MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Former Cubs manager Dusty Baker used to tell the writers if one story wasn't working, we could rip it up and start again.

Good thing we use computers nowadays or the Miller Park press box would have been a fire hazard Friday night.

In a dizzying array of back-and-forth, featuring blown saves by both teams, the Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers went 13 innings, with the Brewers finally winning it 8-7 on a bases-loaded bouncer by Corey Hart past a drawn-in infield with the bases loaded. The hit came against rookie Lendy Castillo, the last man in the Cubs bullpen.

Castillo hit Rickie Weeks and Ryan Braun with pitches to start the inning before Aramis Ramirez singled to right field, loading the bases.

Embattled Cubs reliever Kerry Wood walked the first two batters in the bottom of the 11th before working out of trouble by getting pinch hitter Zack Greinke, a pitcher, to ground into an inning-ending double play.

The game was hardly picturesque, but Cubs manage Dale Sveum couldn't be too down.

"That's a great game, though," said Sveum, whose team fell to 13-19. "Obviously, we finished on the bad end of it, but it was one heck of a game to watch and be part of on both sides."

The night started with a question I posed to manager Sveum about the Cubs being a more confident bunch than they were a month ago, when the Brewers took three of four from the Cubs in Chicago. That was when the Cubs were off to their 3-11 start.

"There's no doubt we're playing with a lot more confidence than back then," Sveum replied. "When we played them last time, it was only four days into the season. We lost a couple of tough games against the Nationals. We lost the first three games against the Brewers. That was early."

This is now, and the Cubs are quite the different-looking team even if they remain flawed in several areas.

They proved it all Friday in a game that saw them score 4 runs in the top of the seventh on a pinch grand slam by David DeJesus to erase a 4-1 deficit.

The Brewers got 4 back in the bottom of the inning as former Cubs closer Carlos Marmol left with a right-hamstring strain and little-used Michael Bowden gave up a 3-run double.

Marmol will return to Chicago for an MRI, and it's a good bet he'll end up on the disabled list.

It got even crazier in the ninth, when the Cubs caused Brewers closer John Axford to blow a save after he had converted 49 in a row.

Fear not, drama fans. Newly minted Cubs closer Rafael Dolis yielded a 2-run homer to Corey Hart in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings tied at 7-7.

Sveum appeared encouraged about Wood, who walked the first two batters in the 11th before pitching 2 scoreless innings.

The manager bypassed Wood for little-used Michael Bowden in the seventh, and Bowden allowed 2 runs.

"Hopefully, that builds his confidence up quite a bit, to come back," Sveum said. "That was good, and hopefully, that's going to turn his confidence around."